Unlike the stories of most visible Division I college athletes,
Amanda Ottaway's story has more in common with those of the 80
percent of college athletes who are never seen on TV. The
Rebounders follows the college career of an average NCAA Division I
women's basketball player in the twenty-first century, beginning
with the recruiting process when Ottaway is an eager, naive
teenager and ending when she's a more contemplative twentysomething
alumna. Ottaway's story, along with the journeys of her dynamic
Wildcat teammates at Davidson College in North Carolina, covers in
engaging detail the life of a mid-major athlete: recruitment, the
preseason, body image and eating disorders, schoolwork, family
relationships, practice, love life, team travel, game day,
injuries, drug and alcohol use, coaching changes, and what comes
after the very last game. In addition to the everyday issues of
being a student athlete, The Rebounders also covers the
objectification of female athletes, race, sexuality, and
self-expression. Most college athletes, famous or not, play hard,
get hurt, fail, and triumph together in a profound love of their
sport and one another, and then their careers end and they figure
out how to move on. From concussions and minor injuries to
classrooms, parties, and relationships, Ottaway understands the
experience of a Division I women's basketball player firsthand. The
Rebounders is, at its core, a feminist coming-of-age story, an
exploration of what it means to be a young woman who loves a sport
and is on a course of self-discovery through that medium.Purchase
the audio edition.